ABSTRACT
Churchill's defeat at Dundee in the November 1922 General Election came as a heavy blow. He was out of parliament for the first time in twenty-two years and it looked as though his career was in ruins. Scrymgeour, his veteran Independent opponent, headed the poll. E. D. Morel, organiser of the Union of Democratic Control, who stood for Labour, was also elected. Churchill's vote was well down and he came in fourth. Churchill was advised from various quarters to preserve a detached position from the Tory Party until the time was ripe to discuss the terms for re-admission. Baldwin offered and Churchill gladly accepted the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was the least one Harrovian could do for another. Nevertheless, the complex financial aftermath of the war, reparations and war-debts, added immeasurably to the burdens of the Chancellor. Austen and Neville Chamberlain, Foreign Secretary and Minister of Health respectively, were former Chancellors of the Exchequer.
